Email saying "Judge, you f--ked up" lands Ohio man in hot water [fs]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

If anyone wishes to express their opinion about Americans' right to free 
speech to U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley 
(algenon_marbley () ohsd uscourts gov), please let me know what happens as 
a result. Of course you should not violate the law in the jurisdiction 
in which you reside.

It looks like this might be the web site of the fellow who sent the 
illegal email message to Judge Marbley:
http://www.columbusconsumer.com/Ricart%20Legal%20History.htm

-Declan

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: email stating, "Judge, you fucked up" lands consumer in hot  water
Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2004 14:33:33 -0500
From: Paul Levy <plevy () citizen org>
To: <declan () well com>



Paul Alan Levy
Public Citizen Litigation Group
1600 - 20th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009
(202) 588-1000
http://www.citizen.org/litigation/litigation.html

> > > Mark Niquette <mniquette () dispatch com> 04/01/04 12:38PM >>>
E-MAIL TO JUDGE
EXPLETIVE LANDS CRITIC OF RULING IN COURT

By Kevin Mayhood and Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



A Westerville man was ordered into federal court yesterday for
e-mailing
the f-word to a judge.
It is disputed whether U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley was
within
his rights to send a U.S. marshal to Robert Dalton's home with a
written
order demanding that he appear in court and whether Dalton could have
been
punished for his word.

Civil libertarians say Dalton is covered by the right to free speech,
but a
federal judge said foul language -- in or out of court -- can be
grounds
for a contempt charge.

Dalton, 41, sent a full-page e-mail on March 17 lambasting Marbley's
handling of a class-action suit, but Marbley was concerned only with
some
of the first words: "You ------ up!''

In court, Marbley said Dalton's other criticism was fine.

"As an articulate man, you could have found another way to express
yourself,'' Marbley told Dalton in court yesterday.

Dalton then said he'd like to take back the curse word. "In retrospect,
I
could have used other creative words to express the strong sentiment I
have.''

That ended the matter. Marbley did not pursue a criminal contempt
charge
that carries up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Benson Wolman, former head of the ACLU in Ohio, praised Marbley as a
top
judge, but said he was wrong in this case.

"To criticize, even in unacceptable language, I think cannot be
punished
under the First Amendment,'' Wolman said. Ordering a critic into court
to
explain his actions under the threat of punishment "can have a chilling

effect on free speech.''

U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus discussed the case
afterward.
Dalton's use of the word in a message to a judge, the day after Dalton

spoke in court about the class-action lawsuit, was analogous to Dalton

swearing at someone in court, which many judges would call contempt, he
said.

Anyone who participates in a court proceeding is subject to the rules
of
contempt, whether in or out of court.

Paul Levy, an attorney with Public Citizen, said the wording was
"obviously
bad judgment on Dalton's part.''

"But judges shouldn't be making people pay for expressing themselves,
even
if it's in an offensive manner.''

Dalton was criticizing the $21.8 million settlement of a class-action
lawsuit involving nearly 123,000 customers of Ricart Properties and its

used-car affiliate, Pay Days. Marbley approved the deal last month.

Dalton was not a party to the lawsuit but is a longtime Ricart critic
who
runs a Web site that takes the auto dealer to task. In the e-mail, he
said
the settlement didn't pay victims enough and that many weren't even
aware
of it.

"You were responsible for ensuring the fairness of the settlement,''
Dalton
told the judge. "I am unsure as to whether it was a lack of competence
or
your ego or a combination of both that resulted in thousands of
citizens
getting screwed.''

Dalton's attorney, Eric E. Willison, had filed a brief arguing the
e-mail
was not contempt but Dalton venting his frustration. Dalton agreed to
drop
the matter because he thinks his overall message wasn't rejected and
that
it was better to not fight the case, Willison said.

kmayhood () dispatch com

mniquette () dispatch com


_______________________________________________
Politech mailing list
Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)